Ventilation is very important in a building. To that end, at least one fan may be installed in order to assist air circulation. In a large building, the fan is required to be quite powerful. This power requirement leads to large and heavy fans. Typically, such a fan is mounted over a vent on a roof. By moving air through the vent, both the vent and the fan will become contaminated. When a fan or a vent is contaminated, air flow is compromised.
Most hinge systems are fastened to the fan by attaching hardware in a very concentrated and limited area on the fan base and duct. This causes a great deal of stress in the affected area, which leads to equipment breakdown and damage to the fan housing. In fact, current hinge systems can be installed only on fans, which that have a configuration that matches up with those of the hinge system. These hinge systems are operable only with a small percentage of the fans in use today and cannot be modified to adapt to other fans.
It is thus desirable to clean the fan and improve the air flow. As the fan size increases, movement thereof becomes even more difficult, which further complicates the cleaning process. Movement of the fan for cleaning and service purposes must therefore be simplified.
Cleanliness is also very important in the restaurant business. The more easily such cleanliness can be achieved, the more profitable and efficient restaurant can be. Critical to achieving these desired advantages is providing effective and simplified access to areas which need to be cleaned. This is especially critical with the vents at the restaurant.
Because of new mandates requiring commercial food processing facilities and all restaurants to install a hinging system on their roof top ventilators, it is important for these businesses to find a system that can adapt to their specific needs. The only hinging systems available are compatible with just a small percentage of existing roof top ventilation systems. The effectiveness of these systems, and in many cases the possibility of installing them at all, is limited by a number of factors including the weight and dimensions of the fan, low grade material and components, which leads to a lack of durability, and a lack of versatility, meaning an inability to adapt to a variety of different situations that may be involved with hinge installation on any given fan.
Typically, a vent at a restaurant permits an exhaust to be withdrawn from the kitchen. Assisting the exhaust is usually a fan. This vent generally passes from the kitchen through the roof. Mounted on the kitchen roof over the vent is usually a fan. Through this vent, are generally passed grease and other cooking residue.
After a period of use, this vent and the fan become contaminated with that grease. Other cooking residue also becomes adhered thereto. This basically flammable residue is at least a fire hazard, or worse. Such residue can also attract undesirable microbes and illness causing bacteria. The closeness of such contamination to a food source is a clear danger to those food consumers and food handlers, who are at the restaurant.
It is thus necessary to clean both the vent and the fan after a period of use. While the fan is necessary for the vent to work, the fan causes many problems, when the time to clean the vent and the fan comes. Any device, which simplifies removal of such contamination and cleaning of the affected area, provides many great advantages. Still, there are many problems with such a cleaning process and the related device.
A first problem is that the fan must be moved, in order to clean the vent. A properly mounted fan is difficult to move and reinstall properly. The mounting for the fan must be solid enough to hold the fan, while leaving the fan easily movable for cleaning purposes. This fan must also be simple to reinstall in order for that fan to function with the exhaust vent in a proper fashion.
To that end, a restaurant fan is sometimes mounted on a hinge. The hinges of the prior art weaken the mounting of the fan, especially if the fan is easily movable. If the hinge is strong enough to firmly support the fan, the fan is not easily moved, and access to the vent becomes more complicated.
The hinge kits of the prior art are constructed from thin gauge steel and inadequate hardware. This leads to premature equipment failure and can cause the fan to overextend or even fall off of the duct. Most hinges cannot support the weight of heavier fans.
Current hinges use holding devices such chains, cables, or similar devices to prevent fans from falling backwards. These components are the source of a number of problems. First, those holding devices, especially the chains, have a tendency to fail. When they do fail, the fan can fall backward violently, damaging the fan and posing an injury risk. They must be precisely measured and installed, adding a time-consuming factor to the installation process. Also they are a major inconvenience and obstruction to workers that clean and service the fan.
With the many variations in a roof and the plurality on different fan structures, adjustability of the hinge is also desired. Yet obtaining adjustability can interfere with both strength and access to both the fan and the vent. Emphasizing one desired feature can interfere with the other.
Thus, it is very desirable to provide access to the vent, while supporting the fan on the roof at the same time. It is also very useful if the hinge assembly can be adjustable.